Day 5 - The race against time
Day 5
Dargaville to Pouto Point and then a water taxi to Helensville
69 kilometers
Luc and I decided that it would be the best idea to bike to Pouto Point and catch the water taxi. If we didn't get the water taxi we would have to ride an additional over 100 kilometers of hard riding around the Kaipara Harbour.
To get to Pouto Point in time to make the ferry we had to get up at 4:27AM. To make sure the start of our big day would be kicking off on a high note, Luc made us killer breakfast sandwiches of toasted ciabatta bread, melted brie cheese, pancetta and eggs!
With good fuel in our bellies, we were on the road by 5:30AM in pitch darkness. Not only was the moon at just a small crescent, but there was serious cloud coverage blocking out whatever little moonlight that was being emitted. We rode into a stiff headwind and had to keep our focus as the first part of our route was on a well traveled highway road where huge logging trucks nearly knocked us over from the air wake they caused. Scary. As we rode along, Luc saw Elon Musk’s Star Link traversing the sky connecting the world one satellite at a time.
We rode along through houses, farms and fields and by countless cattle and sheep. Luc had enticed me that at the end of the gravel road was a quaint little village that in addition to having numerous shops there was a pub where we could have a pub lunch and possibly a beer or two. I loved that idea. Well when we got to the end of the gravel road there was absolutely NOTHING. Apparently either the village vanished or Luc may have been slightly confused.
We arrived at Puto Point at 12:30, two hours ahead of the 14:00 water taxi, woohoo! We followed a misleading sign that claimed there was an ice cream shop nearby the docks. As we approached we saw our fellow TA riders that were also making the water taxi connection to Helensville. The neon vests were a dead giveaway.
The water taxi arrived and we all hoisted our bikes up to the deck and boarded the boat for the 3 hour ride toward the Kawau Parua Inlet. Back on our bikes I was keen on having some food. Luc found a microbrewery, Liberty Beers and Burgers. In addition to really good craft beers the burgers were outstanding! After we had finished a round of cold beers, burgers and fries we had to get an additional burger to split. They were so good and boy did we have an appetite.
We booked ourselves into the Parakai Geothermal Motel. The motel was built upon natural hot springs and every room had their own private geothermal bathtub on their back patios. The waters had zero chemicals and came straight out of the earth at 131 degrees Fahrenheit at their hottest. Though we may have smelt of sulfur, boy did those geothermal waters feel good on our achy muscles.
Day 5 of cycling came to a close.
